Enrol Courses

Welcome to the Portuguese language – and to Portuguese language courses with Euroasia!

Why learn Portuguese?

New Zealanders are perhaps more likely to focus on Brazil than on Portugal.

Brazil is the giant of South America, and has a rapidly expanding economy. The country has great mineral wealth, and New Zealand undoubtedly needs to expand its links with this country, which is set to become a player on the world stage as the century progresses.

Quite a lot of Brazilian students have come to New Zealand, especially high school students, and some families here may have hosted young Brazilians.

Brazil is an exceptionally diverse country to visit, with attractions ranging from the Amazon rain forests to the famous sights of Rio. Also fascinating is the African-influenced culture of the North-East, while the spectacular Iguazu Falls are a major drawcard.

The country offers a pretty powerful combination of both the Latin and the tropical! Brazilians therefore tend to be very lively people, and young Kiwis in particular would enjoy the excitement of a stay in Brazil – and not just at Carnival time.

Some knowledge of Portuguese is the key to getting beneath the surface in Brazil, and also to travelling around effectively. Brazilians will greatly appreciate any efforts you make.

If you decide to visit Portugal, you will find a delightful country with attractive, lively towns and a countryside with a certain old-world charm rare elsewhere in Europe.

Portuguese

A first taste of the Portuguese language, this course is for complete beginners. No previous knowledge of the language is required. By the end of this course, you will already know enough to “get by” in Portuguese: you will be able to cope with the most common everyday situations by asking and answering simple questions, and you will be able to understand people when they speak to you about the situations covered.

This course follows our beginner’s course or assumes previous basic knowledge of the language, (for example, self-introductions, talking about your family, names of foods, shopping, asking for directions, etc.). By the end of this course, you will have expanded the range of situations which you are able to handle in Portuguese and you will have begun to learn some basic grammar points; you can expect to be understanding more of what people say, and growing in your confidence to respond appropriately.

This is our highest level Portuguese course. We cover a range of topics using authentic materials. By the end of this course, you will have mastered the basics of the language, both grammar and vocabulary; you will have learnt enough either to go off to a country where Portuguese is spoken and pick it up there, or possibly to embark upon more formal study.

By the end of this course, you will know enough to “get by” in Portuguese: you will be able to cope with the most common everyday situations by asking and answering simple questions, and you will be able to understand people when they speak to you about the situations covered. You can expect to be understanding more of what people say, and growing in your confidence to respond appropriately. This course is for complete beginners, with no previous knowledge of the language required.

A first taste of the Portuguese language, this course is for complete beginners. No previous knowledge of the language is required.
By the end of this course, you will already know enough to “get by” in Portuguese: you will be able to cope with the most common everyday situations by asking and answering simple questions, and you will be able to understand people when they speak to you about the situations covered.

This course follows our beginner’s course or assumes previous basic knowledge of the language, (for example, self-introductions, talking about your family, names of foods, shopping, asking for directions, etc.).
By the end of this course, you will have expanded the range of situations which you are able to handle in Portuguese and you will have begun to learn some basic grammar points; you can expect to be understanding more of what people say, and growing in your confidence to respond appropriately.

This class is for students who have a good knowledge of Portuguese already. By the end of this course, you will be able to talk about travel and a range of outdoor leisure activities; generally, you will be handling most everyday situations and also understanding a lot of native speakers in these contexts.

By the end of this course, you will be able to refer to future and past events and describe some of these in sequence; your range of vocabulary will have increased to include some areas outside the everyday.

Teaching on a one-to-one basis means we can provide the kind of teaching you require and at your pace. Individual teaching is available either at our centre or at a location to suit you. Individual teaching can also be done via the internet.

By the end of this course, you will be able to say more about your professional and social life; you will be able to use the phone and write simple messages; you will also have a reasonable feel for the main patterns of the language.

Portuguese is descended from Latin, and is quite closely related to Spanish; if by chance you have learnt Spanish, you will find it quite easy; French or Italian would also help.

Many Portuguese words will seem quite familiar to you right from the beginning. English also has a lot of words of Latin origin. If you know that “nation” is “nação”, and “situation” is “situação”, what do you think “organisation” will be?

Portuguese pronunciation may be a little harder than that of Spanish or Italian – Portuguese has a strong nasalised feel to it, which takes a while to get used to. However, it is not hard to achieve pronunciation which will at least be easily understood.

Most of the spelling of the Portuguese language is reasonably predictable, though the link between spelling and pronunciation is a little more complicated than it is in Spanish.

The basic grammar of Portuguese is not difficult, and you will pick up a lot of the key points as you start to learn phrases and everyday language.

Like most languages, Portuguese becomes a bit harder when you start to look at the grammar in more detail. And like all the Latin-based languages, it has a lot of verb forms and tenses which are quite different from those of English. However, you do not need to embark upon all of these all at once, and if you don’t get that far, you can still express quite a lot of useful, everyday ideas.

Brazilian Portuguese does differ somewhat from the language spoken in Portugal, but the two peoples understand one other in much the same way that speakers of British and American English understand one other.

About

Euroasia Language Academy offers Asian and European language courses. The small interactive language classes, with no more than 10 people, allows for personal attention from the teachers and real student participation.